Benji in Control
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 16 

Meet Grandma Bertie

We were awakened by Benji, “Dads, Rocky isn’t in the bedrooms.  We need to go find him.”

Cole and I pulled some walking shorts and a shirt and went to look for him.  He wasn’t in the house anywhere and I was beginning to have a sinking feeling.  I walked out on the deck and Pete was sitting in a chaise lounge with just a pair of shorts on.  I motioned for Cole to come.  Pete hadn’t heard us and he muttered, “Please make it so I can stay here.  People aren’t always yelling at me and telling me not to bother them.”

I grinned at Cole and put my finger to my lips meaning for him to be quiet.   I didn’t yell but I raised my voice, “What the heck are you doing out here all by yourself, Mr. Peter Throckmorton Cunningham the Fourth.  Don’t you know that there are kid rustlers in these here parts.”

Pete had bolted up when I started to talk and was trying to stand, but I pushed back down on the lounge chair.  “Why isn’t breakfast ready and why aren’t you dressed to go church?”

Suddenly Pete started to laugh, “Benji was right.  You people are big phonies.”

Cole and I sat down beside him and I asked, “Pete, would you rather be called Pete or Rocky?”

Pete shrugged his shoulders, “I kinda like the idea of being called Rocky, like my Daddy was.  Benji is right, I need to take my Daddy’s place.  Do some people really call their peckers or penises, as Benji calls?”

Cole answered, “Son, there are also sorts of slang names for penises.  We choose to refer to it by the right term, so people know what we’re talking about.”

Pete looked at Cole and me, “What do you call the two balls that hang down from the penis?  My step dad called the nuts.  He used to say he was going to bust a nut.  What did he mean?”

We hadn’t seen or heard Benji come onto the deck, “Rocky, we refer to them as testicles.”

Cole added, “We’ll explain what your step dad meant by bust a nut, later.”

Benji laughed, “Rocky, Dad thinks we aren’t old enough to know what bust a nut means.  Dads, can we fix French toast this morning since we have lots of time.”

I stood, “Of course, are your other brothers up?”

“I told them to go ahead and get ready for church because Rocky and I can take care of the clean up this morning.  Dads, we’ll probably need to take two vehicles to church.  We won’t all fit in the van with Grandmother McBride’s wheelchair.”

Cole nodded, “You’re right, Benji, I’ll take the three young guys with me in my truck, and we can meet you at church.”

When we arrived at the retirement home, Benji and Pete crawled out and I decided I'd better go with them in case they needed help.  When we walked into the reception area, Grandmother McBride was talking to another lady in a wheelchair who had her back to us.  Grandmother McBride motioned for us to come to her.

“Bertie, I’d like for you to meet my great grandson, Benjamin, his Daddy, Dr. Douglas Christiansen, and his new brother, Peter.”

Pete was frozen in place and tears started to roll down his face.  He was finally able to get out, “Grandma Bertie, it’s me, Petey.”

Mrs. Cunningham started to cry, “Peter Throckmorton Cunningham, is that really you?  Come give me a hug and a kiss.”

Benji was standing with his arm around Grandmother McBride.  He looked at his great grandmother, “Grandmother, I guess some one planned for that man to try to take our coins and for Daddy to punch him on the nose.”

Benji went to Mrs. Cunningham, “Grandma Cunningham, we’re going to church, why don’t you go with us?  We have to meet our other Dad and our three brothers, there.”

“Thank you, Benji, I’d like that.  Let me go get my purse and some dry hankies.  I was afraid that I would never see Petey again.”

When we arrived at the church, we were joined by Mr. Carpenter and Greg and Jordan.  We went to the pew that was behind the space set aside for wheel chairs.  The boys were great, as always, and Pete was overwhelmed by what was happening and kept looking at me with questioning looks.  When it was time for the offering, Mrs. Cunningham turned around and gave Pete a bill.  Grandmother McBride did likewise to the other four boys not realizing that Cole had already given his three passengers some money.

We went to the club for lunch over the boys’ objections, but it was the easiest for the two great grandmothers, so the boys didn’t complain too vociferously.  Benji and Pete helped the two grandmothers through the buffet line while I helped Mikey, and Cole helped the twins.

I’m not sure who was the most excited, Pete or Mrs. Cunningham. Matt was sitting beside me, “Dad, what’s going to happen to Rocky, now that we’ve found his great grandmother?”

“Son, I don’t know for sure.  There are a lot of things about Pete, or Rocky, that we still need to find out.”

Benji spoke up, “Dads, we need to take the Great Grandmothers back to the home, so they can rest.  We’ll pick them up at four o’clock and then we can have a nice light dinner since we pigged out at lunch time.  They need to get into comfortable clothes since it’s rather warm today.”

After we dropped the two grandmothers off, boy did I get the questions.

“Daddy, what’s going to happen to Rocky now?  He’s still going to be able to be our big brother, isn’t he?  He can’t live in the retirement home with his Grandma Bertie.”

I looked in the rear view mirror and Pete had tears in his eyes again.  “Benji, I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to Pete for sure.  There are still many things that we don’t know about.  The big problem is that we need to find out where his Mother is.”

Pete spoke up, “But Dr. C., I don’t want to live with her.  She doesn’t really love me.   I feel safe with you people at Summerhill.  Even if Mr. Jackson is dead, she’ll find some one else to bring home.”

“I needed to stop anymore discussion of what was happening.  Guys, I promise you that Dad Cole and I will do everything in our power to make sure that nothing bad happens to Rocky.  We need to get changed, so we can show the guys how to put the awning up to keep the sun off of the basketball court.  Benji, you were right; it is going to be a hot one.”

Cole was in the bedroom changing when we arrived.  When I entered the room, he looked at me, “Okay, Douggie, what’s going to happen next.  I think it’s a conspiracy to keep us from ever having a normal life.”

I kissed him, “I hate to tell you this, but our life hasn’t been normal since the day you found Benji.”

When Cole and I arrived downstairs, Benji was talking on the phone, “Yep, we’re going to be home.  We have to go pick up the Great Grandmothers at the Retirement Center at four, but someone will be here. … Okay, I’ll tell Daddy that you’re coming.”

“Dads, that was Uncle Austin and Uncle Derek.  They want to talk to you.  I told them to come on out.”

I looked at Cole, “That’s all I need, another problem to worry about.”

Cole and I showed the basketball players how to put the awning up and I was working on the messages that had come in.  I looked at them and thought, ‘Karen, was right I need another assistant, but we can’t afford another person right now.  I’ll need to check with Bill Oliver and go over the school’s finances.  There are so many things that are interfering with me doing my job properly.’

I was working on school stuff when Benji shook my arm, “Daddy, we need to go get our great grandmothers.  Dad Cole is going to stay here and make sure that no one gets hurt.”

We picked the grandmothers up and Grandmother McBride asked, “Doug, can we drive by the college so Bertie can see what’s happening.  She used to live that area, and she didn’t believe me when I told her what was happening.”

As we entered the street where the administration building was located, Mrs. Cunningham pointed to the corner lot where the Autumn Summers Christiansen Arts and Sciences Building was already being built, “That’s where we lived for forty years, until I sold the house three years ago and moved into the assisted living facility.”

Rocky sighed, “Grandmother, I thought you still lived there and when I got here there weren’t any houses.  Just a whole bunch of empty holes and a lot of big equipment.  I was really tired and I crawled in an open window and went to sleep on a couch.  The mean Dr. C. found me and was going to tie me to a chair if I tried to escape.  He and his family have been picking on me for three days.”

Grandmother Cunningham laughed, “Petey, I find that hard to believe.”

Benji interrupted the discussion, “Grandmother Cunningham, that’s where the building is going to be built in honor of our Mother.  They’re going to teach people how to help children there.  See that big hole in the middle of the field, that’s going to be the McBride Library and Information Center.  Daddy, why don’t we go to your office so we can show Grandmother Cunningham what the school is going to look like when it’s finished.”

I pulled in front of the building, since there weren’t any other cars around.  We went to my office to look at the model of what the campus was going to look like when it was finished.  Mrs. Cunningham commented, “My Pete would have been so pleased, if he could see what’s happening here.  He always felt that this area deserved its own college.”

We drove to the second block and Benji was giving a blow by blow description of what we were passing.  When we were passing what was going to be the Student Center, Benji announced, “The Student Center is going to be named the Benjamin Miller Student Center after my Father.  He was Grandmother McBride’s grandson.  He died in the war.”

Talk about being confused, Pete was, “Benji, I thought Dr. C. was your father?”

“Nope, he’s my Daddy.  He and my Mother adopted me after Dad Cole found me in a field.”

Grandmother McBride laughed, “Rocky, what Benji said was true.  It’s a long story.  You’ll understand later.  Let’s get to Summerhill to make sure everyone is okay.”

When we arrived at Summerhill, there were cars everywhere.  Benji looked around, “Daddy, I didn’t think we had parties on Sunday?”

“We don’t.  We’d better go see what’s happening.”

When we walked into the house, Austin and Derek were there with two ladies.  Benji asked, “Where is everyone else?”

Austin answered, “They went skinny dipping to cool down from playing basketball all afternoon.  Cole said to tell you that they would be back in about twenty minutes.  He made Sloppy Joes for dinner and we’ve been watching the home fries.  These are our friends Dr. Lisa Armbruster and Dr. Mackenzie Solt.”

After everyone had greeted the visitors the wagon and a golf cart appeared, but there were some new faces I didn’t recognize.  We went to greet the arrivals.  Coach Carpenter grinned, “Doug, that was probably the best therapy session I’ve had in some time.  I hope the swimming hole is open whenever it is nice.”

Benji answered, “Coach, as long as there aren’t any ladies around, you can go skinny dipping whenever you want.  You have to have someone with you who can keep you from drowning.  Who are those two new guys on the wagon?”

“That’s PeeWee and his friend LeRoy.  They came to see if they could get scholarships to play basketball.”  The coach motioned to the two new guys, “Guys, this is President Christiansen.  He’s the person you need to talk to about getting a scholarship.”

LeRoy approached me, “Good evening, suh, we was hoping that we might be able to get a scholarship to tend your little ol college.”

Benji put his finger on the guy's stomach, “Either you talk English or I’ll make sure that you don’t go to our college.  Tell your friend to identify himself and why is he called PeeWee?  He's as big or bigger than The Biggest Giant.”

LeRoy motioned to PeeWee, “You heard the boss, identify yourself.”

PeeWee snapped to attention, “PeeWee Hodges, reporting as directed, sir.”

The last name caught my attention.  I was about ask a question but Benji beat me to it, “Why do they call you PeeWee.  Is it because you have a wee pee?  What is your real name, anyway?

The young man laughed, “My name is Paul William Hodges and as far as your other question, that’s for me to know and you to try to find.”

Benji giggled, “I’ll ask Dad Cole.  He’ll tell me.”

I asked, “Mr. Hodges, are you related to Senator Hodges and why are you really here?”

PeeWee nodded yes, “Yes sir, he was my Grandfather until he made my parents throw me out.  The reason, we even came here was because of the way you stood up to the bas… prick.”

Mrs. Cunningham asked, “Paul, why would he make your parents throw you out?”

LeRoy answered, “Ma’am, his grandfather couldn’t handle the fact Paulie might be attracted to me.  There's not only the problem of gender, but the fact that Paul and I are of different ethnic backgrounds.”

Benji looked up at me, “Daddy, what did Mr. LeRoy just say?  Did he say that PeeWee’s grandfather had him thrown out because the two of them were good friends like you and Dad Cole?”

I put my arm around Benji, “That appears to be what he was saying.  LeRoy and Paul come to the college in the morning and talk to Drs. Summers and Mitchell.  I would also like to visit with you when Dr. Lewis is available.”

The basketball players left and I turned to Austin, “Okay brother-in-law, I don’t think this is a social visit.  Why don’t you two spill what’s on your mind.”  

“Doug, after the past week, we need to add some more professional people to the staff.  Harwood is going to be growing and you are going to need to rely on your staff to assist you.  The real reason we’re here is that we need to get the course offerings out for the fall, so we can provide prospective new students with an idea what courses would be available to them.  I’m sure that this next week is going to be wild after all the publicity the College has been receiving.”

Derek took over, “Doug, the reason we asked Lisa and Mackenzie to join us is that they both have just received their doctorates.  Lisa has her doctorate in Education with a major in curriculum design from Emory University.  Mackenzie received her doctorate in Public Relations from the University of Georgia.  They would not only bring the fact that they would be the females on the permanent faculty, but also bring attention that we are not solely connected to Georgia Tech.”

I nodded, “People, I like what you’re proposing, but I need to check to see what funds are available to hire permanent staff.  Lisa and Mackenzie, why don’t you come to my office tomorrow at one o‘clock.  I’ll try to have some answers by then and I really hope we can work something out.”

Everyone finally departed except the two great grandmothers, and Cole announced, “Dinner will be served in the dining room.  Doug, you might want to check with the Grandmothers to see if they would like wine with dinner.  We’re having beef Sloppy Joes.   I need my servers to join me in the kitchen.”

The ladies decided to have red wine so I brought a bottle of red wine and bottle of sparkling grape juice for the five guys.  After everyone was seated and had started to eat, Benji started, “Grandmother Cunningham, why doesn’t Rocky have any grandparents like me and my brothers do?”

“Benji, that’s a good question.  My husband, the first Peter Throckmorton Cunningham died right after Petey or Rocky was born.

Our son who was Peter the Second went to Harvard and met the girl who thought she was a queen.  Anyway, they had a huge society wedding.  They had only been married for a year when Petey’s Dad was born.  We called him Rocky because we already had two Peters in the family.”

“Anyway, when Rocky was two years old his mother divorced his father.  She wanted nothing to with Rocky or his Dad.  She has since been married and divorced at least four times.  She was a real witch.”

Rocky’s dad started to drink and was no longer able to take care of Petey’s father.  So Rocky came to live with my husband and me.  He was a really good boy.  He went to the University of Alabama where he played football and was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  That’s where he met Petey’s mother, Renatta.  Petey’s mother had been a cheerleader for the Jaguars.”

“Renatta had been a foster child and didn’t have any parents who were living and Peter the Second, Rocky’s Dad, had died from drinking too much alcohol.”

Benji spoke up, “What kind of accident did Rocky’s Daddy have?”

Pete had tears in his eyes, “Daddy and some friends had gone hunting after they had played a football game in Denver, and someone accidentally shot him and he died.”

Boy, did it get quiet in the dining room.  The silence was broken by the doorbell.  I went to see who was at the door.  Deputy Sheriff Ken Parker was standing there, “Hi Dr. Christiansen, is Peter here?”

“Yes, he’s in the dining room.  Might I ask what this is about?”

“Sir, we need him to look at a body which we believe to be that of his mother.  We have sent the fingerprints to the appropriate people, but it would save time if he could help us.”

I took a deep breath.  “Sheriff, I have reservations about doing this, but I will get him.”

I went into the dining room, “Mrs. Cunningham and Peter, there’s someone here to see you.  The rest of you, please take care of the clean up and make sure that Grandmother McBride has everything she needs while we get this problem resolved.”

When Pete saw the Sheriff he asked, “It’s about my mother, isn’t it?”

Sheriff Parker nodded, “Yes, Pete, it is.  We found your mother’s car, and it was abandoned.  We searched the surrounding area and found the body of a woman, whom we believe to be your mother, in a small pond.  We would like for you to come and look at the body to see if it is her, if you would?”

Pete looked at his Grandmother and me, “Grandmother Bertie and Dr. C., will you go with me?”

“Pete, I’ll take the van and we’ll follow the Sheriff.  Let me tell the others that we’ll be back in about an hour.”

As we were entering the county morgue, I was sure that Peter was going to shut off the circulation in my right arm.  The attendant pulled out a drawer and Peter looked at the body and backed away.  “Sheriff Parker that was my Mother.”

Mrs. Cunningham opened her purse, “Sheriff, I also can attest that that was Peter’s mother.  Here’s my card.  I’ll take care of making the arrangements for the funeral.  Peter doesn’t need to be bothered with this problem anymore than he already he has.”

She handed me a card, “Doug, here’s my card with my cell phone number.  It’s an unlisted number.  She handed one to Peter as well.”

When we arrived back at Summerhill, the guys were riding bikes in front of the house while Cole and Grandmother McBride were watching from the porch, with Clark.  Cole had the phone with him.  Benji jumped off his bike and took Peter to the shed and he came back riding what had been Autumn’s bike.   Pete started out a little wobbly at first but soon was riding as well as the other four boys.

Cole looked at Mrs. Cunningham and me, “The Columbus police department called and would like whoever is going to be responsible for the property in Columbus, and Mr. Jackson’s remains to contact them.”

Mrs. Cunningham frowned, “I will have nothing what so ever to do with Jackson’s remains.  I met him only one time and he was an overbearing son of a bitch who demanded that I give him money to take care of Peter.  When I refused, he swore at me and said that would be the last time that I would ever see the little bastard,”

I looked at Clark, “Don’t tell me that you're going to lay some bad news on me, too.”

Clark grinned, “As a matter of fact, I am.  I’m going to have to resign, unless you get us some more help.  There is no way that we can get everything done unless we get some more permanent staff.”

Grandma McBride laughed, “Dr. Lewis, that’s old news.  Austin and Derek were here this afternoon saying the same thing.  At least they brought two beautiful women with them who are going to be interviewed tomorrow for jobs.”

Clark grabbed his throat, “Oh no, anything but beautiful women.”

“Knock it off, Clark; be available to meet Dr. Solt and Dr. Armbruster at one tomorrow afternoon.”

Clark grinned, “I know both Lisa and Mackenzie.  They would be a fine addition.   Now for the good news, I’m getting married.”

“I gather Larry said yes.”

Clark shook his head, “No, but the boys did.  The boys have their Dad wrapped around their finger, so it’s only a matter of time.  They’re coming down here next weekend and we’re going house hunting.  We may need to put the boys up here at Summerhill.”

Clark handed me an envelope, “Larry said to tell you that he’ll have another check for you next weekend.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

I whistled for the guys and they knew that meant they were to put their bikes and helmets away.  When they approached the porch, I informed them, “Guys, we need to take Grandmother McBride and Grandmother Cunningham back to the center.  You youngest three make sure that Dad Cole doesn’t get in trouble while we’re gone.”

As we were walking the ladies into the reception area, the receptionist commented, “Ladies, we were getting ready to send out the search dogs.  I trust you had a good day.”

Benji went up to the young man, “They had a very nice day.  You just make sure nothing happens to them while they’re here.”

As we were leaving, Mrs. Cunningham put her hand on my arm, “Doug, things will work out.  Let other people do some things.  You need to worry about your four sons, my great grandson and young Cole.”

When we were going back to Summerhill, Pete asked, “Dr. C., what’s going to happen to me, now?”

Benji answered, “You’re going to stay with us, of course.   Now that we’ve found your great grandmother, everything will work out.”

It was a very quiet ride back to Summerhill.

When we walked in, Cole looked at the two guys, “Your three brothers are having ice cream and cookies.  Why don’t you join them?”

I looked at Cole, “Cole, my man, this has been one hell of a day.  Let’s get the boys to bed so we can do likewise.  I need to pack my things in my briefcase so I can go to the college early tomorrow.”

As I was putting the messages and everything that I had brought home in my briefcase, I remember the envelope that Clark handed me.  I opened it and gasped and handed it to Cole.  He started to laugh, “Well, I guess we won’t have to worry about you getting paid anytime soon.  Let’s go to bed and celebrate.”  

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:   That was quite a busy chapter.  It was nice that Grandma Bertie showed up.  Pete is doing very nicely.  And of course, Benji seems to be taking charge.

I am certainly ready for the next exciting chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 04/09/10